Albert Basse Associates: Humble Beginnings to 95 Years of Family Legacy

By Allee Bruce

Stoughton, Massachusetts-based display, sign, and graphics company Albert Basse Associates (ABA) celebrates its 95th anniversary, reflecting on decades of family leadership and a dedication to its customers.

From its founding on March 17, 1928, to now, the print business has held fast on two things: family and excellence, bringing print and graphic solutions to customers nationwide. While a lot can happen in 95 years — from the Great Recession to a global pandemic — President Albert "Chip" Basse III says the company has embraced new technologies, pivoted, and grown along the way. All while maintaining a committed clientele and garnering new customers.

ABA started out as a window display decorating company but eventually expanded into a screen-printing business, and, more recently, has invested in the digital printing movement. Today, ABA offers prepress and design, digital printing, screen printing, finishing, and fulfillment services out of its 35,000-sq.-ft. printing plant. It focuses on the point-of-purchase, out-of-home market with a range of customers. Its clients include designers and ad agencies to print brokers. Clients include Staples, Reebok, Adidas, Stop & Shop, TJX Companies, CVS, and many more.

A History of Basses

ABA’s family legacy started with humble beginnings and Chip’s grandfather Albert Basse Sr. “We got our start with decorating windows and in-store displays for little mom-and-pop shops up and down the East Coast,” Chip explains. "He [Basse Sr.] developed it and went from just putting together small type displays into adding screen printing at the time, which was young in its infancy for display work."

From left to right: Albert Basse IV, head of business development; Albert “Chip” Basse III, president; and Edwin Basse, VP of sales and marketing. | Credit: Image courtesy of Chip Basse

Eventually, ABA went from small mom-and-pop businesses to retail chains as its main clientele. Supermarkets and department stores made up much of its customer base at that time.

In the early 1960s, Chip’s grandfather passed, and his father Albert Basse Jr. took over ABA in 1962 – focusing on screen printing in the retail market and continuing the legacy until his passing at the young age of 40. From there, Chip’s mother Ellen stepped in.

"Back in 1976, my mom, with five kids at home, had to decide whether or not to keep it going,” he recalls. She brought in a friend of Basse Jr. to run production while she managed the front end. Chip says she grew the company through the transition, later remarried, and Chip’s stepfather helped run the business in the late ‘80s.

“All the while, I did have the opportunity to work with my dad when I was a young kid and so I kind of had a passion to eventually come into the business also after college,” Chip explains. “So, I joined back in ‘84 full-time and helped my mom.”

ABA employed 16 people at the time, and with continued growth, the team moved into a larger location and added and modernized its equipment.

When Chip’s stepfather passed, he took over running the business with his mother and brother by his side. His mother passed away in 2015, leaving Chip the business with his brother Edwin Basse who serves as VP of sales and marketing. Chip’s son Albert Basse IV joined the company a couple of years ago, focusing on business development and sales. Today, ABA employs 38 staff.

Welcoming the Digital Print Movement

While screen printing has been ABA’s lifeblood for many years, Chip says it invested in digital printing 20 to 25 years ago and slowly grew that arm of the business while maintaining screen printing.

Although ABA was early in the digital printing movement, much of the work it was doing was conducive to screen printing, Chips says, so the team didn’t heavily invest in digital until just recently.

This past summer, the company installed a large Durst P5 350 HS, which he says really “stepped up our digital presence.” The new printer paired with full finishing and fulfillment capabilities and screen printing, Chip says ABA can serve large retailers nationally, shortening lead times.

Print projects surround the Albert Basse Associates office, including some of its work for Adidas. | Credit: Image courtesy of Chip Basse.

“You really need to have the ability and the greater firepower of the faster digital in order to be able to meet their [customer] deadlines,” he says. “With new technology, you're not only improving speeds, but the quality of the work is much nicer as well.”

With growth and new equipment comes a new level of busy. Chip says his team is working on ways to meet that growth and find a nice balance. “Despite all of that, why we're still in business so many years later is we’re service-oriented,” he affirms. “We don’t like to commit to projects and programs we can’t meet, and we really focus on service as the biggest factor in what we do.”

Employee Engagement and Internal Success

Chip credits the company’s success to his talented team of associates, their focus on the customer, and the company’s integrity. With that, the company focuses on a few core values:

Establishing long-term relationships.
Abiding by its word and commitments.
Putting out quality products.

“We don’t want to be the biggest company out there,” he says. “We want to be the best.” ABA staff does this by taking pride in their craft – from printing to finishing and packaging. With customers expecting “just in time” products, Chip is proud of his team for meeting deadlines and delivering, even on the most complex of projects.

Asking how he manages a family business, he says he’s been fortunate. Everyone gets along, and while it is a family business, he tries to manage professionally and be employee centric.

In addition to great relationships internally, he credits networking and outside mentorship for his growth. Because he couldn’t have those important conversations with his dad as he took over the business, Chip relied on his peers for guidance. He says many helped him with decision-making, whether it was about personnel, equipment, or the printing itself. He leaned into networking at trade shows like SGIA, now PRINTING United Alliance, to help grow his skills.

“I think the networking was really key to helping me to grow and to learn,” he adds. “I definitely couldn't Google it back then, so we had to somehow figure it out through reading, through inquiring, and through calling different people, and most people are very helpful in that regard.”

The Next Five Years

As ABA approaches its centennial year, Chip hopes to expand its footprint. “We are bulging at the seams,” he says, and its plot of land will allow ABA to double in size.

While Chip says the team is setting the groundwork for that expansion, “there’s a lot of things that are happening before then that we’re working through with new equipment and so forth, but it’s definitely in the planning stages.”

One of those things is the addition of another flatbed UV printer in the coming months. Additionally, his son is working on reevaluating procedures and processes. One big project includes overseeing the implementation of a new ERP system. The company is also continually improving its sustainability efforts. Chips says the main goal with these improvements and expansions is to be “relevant in the next 10 to 20 years.”

Although it’s early to talk about succession planning, Chip says his son, who graduated with a degree in finance, is very much involved in the business but still has a lot to learn. While his early experience helps, Chip wants to ensure he understands the scope of running a print business, which comes with a large learning curve. Thankfully, Chips says there’s “a lot of time to go before we finalize that.”

Because 95 years in business comes with some learning lessons, Chip encourages other print businesses to use the resources around them and reach out for help if they’re struggling.

“You can’t let what’s happening in the moment distort and affect a lot of decision-making in the future,” he advises. “It too shall pass. Tomorrow’s another day, so whatever challenges you face today, keep moving forward because tomorrow’s completely different.”

Along with these words of encouragement, he says when challenges do arise, identify them, and put a plan in place so that you can “focus and achieve.” While the timeline might shift and you may not hit milestones when you’d like, he tells business owners to stay the course and have fun.

“It is a difficult industry to be in, but you have to enjoy it,” he adds.